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Frances Cornford
" " Frances Crofts Cornford (née Darwin; March 30, 1886 - August 19, 1960) was an English poet, "perhaps known chiefly, and unfairly, for the sadly comic poem 'To a Fat Lady Seen from a Train'”."Frances Cornford," Encyclopaedia Britannica, Britannica.com, Web, Sep. 25, 2011. Life She was the daughter of the botanist Francis Darwin and Ellen Crofts, born into the Darwin — Wedgwood family. She was a granddaughter of the British naturalist Charles Darwin. Her elder half-brother was the golf writer Bernard Darwin. She was raised in Cambridge, among a dense social network of aunts, uncles, and cousins, and was educated privately.Period Piece, a memoir by Frances Cornford's first cousin and close friend, Gwen Raverat, sheds much light on Cornford's childhood. In 1909, Frances Darwin married Francis Cornford, a classicist and poet. They had 5 children: *Helena (b. 1913) *John (1915-1936), a poet and Communist who was killed in the Spanish Civil War. *Christopher (1917-1993), an artist and writer *Clare, who became the mother of Matthew Chapman *Hugh Frances Cornford published several books of verse, including Poems (1910), Spring Morning (1915), Autumn Midnight (1923), and Different Days (1928). Mountains and Molehills (1935) was illustrated with woodcuts by Cornford's cousin Gwen Raverat. She is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge. Writing Her poems include The Guitarist Tunes Up: With what attentive courtesy he bent '' ''Over his instrument; Not as a lordly conqueror who could Command both wire and wood, But as a man with a loved woman might, Inquiring with delight What slight essential things she had to say Before they started, he and she, to play. One of Frances Cornford's poems was a favourite of the late Philip Larkin and his lover Maeve Brennan. All Souls' Night uses the superstition that a dead lover will appear to a still faithful partner on that November date. Maev, many years after Larkin's death, would re-read the poem on All Souls: My love came back to me '' ''Under the November tree '' ''Shelterless and dim. '' ''He put his hand upon my shoulder, He did not think me strange or older, Nor I him. '' Although the myth enhances the poem - it can be read as the meeting of older, former lovers. Recognition Frances Cornford was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1959. Publications * ''Poems (1910) *''Spring Morning'' (1915) *''Autumn Midnight'' (1923) *''Different Days'' (1928) *''Before and After Socrates'' (1932) *''Mountains and Molehills'' (1934) *''Poems from the Russian'' (1943) *''Travelling Home & Other Poems'' (1948) *''Collected Poems'' (1954) *''On a Calm Shore'' (1960) *''Fifteen Poems from the French'' (1976) *''Frances Cornford: Selected Poems'' (1996) Except where noted, bibliographical information is from Poetry Archive."Frances Cornford: Bibliography"; from A Bibliography of the Writings of Frances Cornford. Alan Anderson. (Tragara Press, 1975). Poetry Archive, Web, Sep. 25, 2011. Notes External links *Encyclopedia Britannica *Bibliography *[http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/Poems/the_coast_norfolk.htm The Coast: Norfolk by Frances Cornford] * Category:1886 births Category:1960 deaths Category:Darwin-Wedgwood family Category:English poets Category:Women poets Category:English women writers